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Why does everyone expect everything to be free? I'd argue that while money's part of it, the more important aspect is friction. Much of the time the internet
by robinsonb5 4y ago
Why does everyone expect everything to be free? I'd argue that while money's part of it, the more important aspect is friction.
Much of the time the internet is a platform for procrastination (he says, posting here while waiting for Vivado to do its thing!) - if I'm just idly reading a page or two and I'm interrupted by the need to create an account and worry about payment details then I'd have to be heavily invested in what I was reading to bother jumping through such hoops, instead of just going somewhere else.
I'd also argue that advertising itself isn't the problem - it's the fact that the goal of maximising returns for advertising spends incentivises sleazy behaviour (not just the tracking, but also obnoxious audio ads and videos that partially obscure the content the user's trying to read.)
- bee_rider 4y agoMost of the things I read online, I would probably not be willing to pay much for. For example, for “news” opinion pieces, my analogy is to a long form version of something one might find posted on a bulletin board at a coffee shop. Sure it is entertaining to skim and might be vaguely informative, but it isn’t really journalism and if someone tried to charge me to read it, I’d happily move on. I don’t expect everything to be free, I expect things to be priced in line with their value. Listening to somebody’s rant on something—I mean, therapists charge for it!
- _9omd 4y agoI think friction is a big part. I’ve never paid for a website subscription but I have several subscription apps on my iphone because the payment (and cancellation) process is streamlined.